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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. F. T. NICHOLSON. ENVELOPE MACHINE.

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F. T. NICHOLSON. I ENVELOPE MACHINE.

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P. T. NICHOLSON.

ENVELOPE MACHINE 1 No. 486,233. Patented w. 15, 1892.

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ENVELOPE MACHINE.

N0. 486,233. v PatentedN Jv; 15. 1892.

.ullmm Manes ses: 3 Inirewivr UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS T. NICHOLSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TOCLARENCE WOLF, OF SAME PLACE.

ENVELOPE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,233, dated November15, 1892.

7 Application filed August 4,1891- Serial No. 401,665. (No model.) A ITo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS T. NICHOLSON, of Philadelphia, in the countyof Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Machines for lVIanuf-acturing Envelopes; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawro ings,forminga part of this specification, and to the figures and letters ofreference marked thereon.

' The primary object of this invention is to produce an envelope ofcommercial form in which the final closing or sealing flap shall beclean or free from gum, the line of gum or other sealing material beinglocated on the body of the envelope, thus not only obviating theinconveniencies arising from the wetting of the gum with the tongue, butalso lessening the liabilty of removing a portion of the gum, whichwould of necessity make the seal insecure.

It has heretofore been proposed to make envelopes in accordance with theabove broad idea, but certain practical difficulties have presentedthemselves which precluded the successful manufacture of such envelopeson a commercial scale and in competition with 0 the ordinary gummed-flapenvelope. Such diffculties I attribute to the fact that heretofore theenvelope has been gummed and folded in the ordinary manner with theexception of the gum on the sealing flap and then after the envelope wasentirely formed the line of gum was applied to the body ofthe envelopein position to register with said sealing-flap when folded down. Inovercoming said difficulties I first apply lines of gum to the face oraddress side of the envelopeblank in position to register with eachother and with the sealing-flap when the envelope is folded, then drysaid gum, and finally apply the ordinary lines of gum to the oppositeside of the blank and fold and form the same in the ordinary manner,save that the sealingflap is left clean and free from gum; but, ifdesired, the sealing-flap may be coated with an invisible, tasteless andharmless papersize, to prevent the moisture which is applied to the samefrom being quickly absorbed as might otherwise be the case.

In carrying my invention into practice, use I is made of a specialmachine, to be presently described, to which the blanks are fed afterthe manner of an ordinary envelope-machine, which special machine firstapplies the gum to the face or writing side of the envelope, then driesand reverses the blanks, delivering them in position for an ordinaryenvelope 6o gumming and folding machine, which receives them andcompletes the formation of the envelope in the well-understood manner.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation,partially in section, showing the preferred form of machine; Fig. 2 is afront elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 an elevation from the sideopposite Fig.

1, in all of these figures the underlying and obscure parts beingomitted for the sake of clearness, and only those parts shown which arenecessary for a complete understanding of the several mechanisms. Figs.4, 5, and 6 are detail views of the elevator and its stirrup orcross-piece. Figs. 7 and 8 are details of the drying and reversingchain. Fig. 9 is a detail plan of one of the envelope-blanks, showingthe contour of the lines of paste applied by the gummers. Fig. 10is adetail elevation showing the shape of the openings in the table, throughwhich the arms on the chain pass. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of anenvelope constructed in accordance with my invention.

Similar letters and numerals of reference in the several figuresindicate the same parts.

The letter A designates the sides of the main frame, preferably metaland formed with the usual open spaces, said sides being held rigidly inproper relative position by 0 any suitable cross pieces or braces-suchas Band at the top are provided with seats for the superstructures,consisting, essentially, of the brackets 0, having vertical bearings c,in which the pickers and gummers slide, and 5 the bearings D, in whichthe rock-shaft d for operating the gummers works.

Mounted rigidly on the cross-pieces B are brackets, or, more properlyspeaking, stand- ,ards b, which at the upper ends carry the'roo ways B,in which the table 13 slides, and which also support certain minor partsof the mechanism,as will be hereinafter mentioned.

At the front the side pieces A are united by a cross-piece E, which Ishall herein term the elevator'stirrup, the central part being depressedfor the reception of the elevator-supports, as shown. This stirrup hastwo vertically-extending bearings e, in which slide the rods 6, carryingthe elevator E at the end, and between these hearings are formed twohorizontal bearings e Figs. 1 and 4, to which the elevator cam-shaft Fis journaled.

At the bottom of the frame and journaled in bearings G transversethereto is the main operating-shaft G, driven from any suitable sourceof power, and adapted, through cams and connections to be now described,to give a proper relative movement and operation to all the parts of themachine.

The gummers and pickers in the present instance are three in number,lettered, respectively, ff f and are adapted to apply gum to the two endflaps and center flap on the front of the envelope in such position asthat when the envelope is folded the portions of gum so applied willregister to form a complete line of gum on the body of the envelope,which registers perfectly with the sealing-flap. The gummers are ofordinary construction, being mounted on the lower ends of rods F,connected by cross-piece F which is clamped thereto in such manner thatany particular gummer may be adjusted and having on the rear side lugs fto which one end of a link F is connected, the opposite end of said linkbeing pivotally connected to an arm F on the rock-shaft d. Therock-shaft dis further provided with a slotted arm F to which isconnected the long link F, the lower end of which is jointed to thelever F pivotally connected to the frame, depressed by a spring F andcarrying an antifriction-roller F ,which cooperates with the cam i onthe main shaft for reciprocating the gummers and pickers at the propermoment. The gummers descend upon the pile of envelopes carried by theelevator, then, by reason of the viscosity of the gum itself, which maybe supplemented by a suction device f if desired, elevates the uppermostblank high enough for the conveyinghooks b on the table B to passbeneath the same and engage the blank and as the table is withdrawncarrying the same with it. The table is reciprocated by means of therockshaft I, carrying upwardly-extending arms I, the upper ends of whichare connected to the table by means of links I and 1 At the center theshaft I carries a down Wardly-extending arm 1 joined by a connecting-rodI with the eccentric-box l surrounding an eccentric l on the main shaft.The connection between the arm I and rod I is a slot connection,enabling the throw of the conveying-hooks to be easily regulated to suitdifferent-sized envelopes. Immediately over the table is located the gumor paste box K, having a feed-roller working therein and driven by meansof a belt or chain K, passing around a wheel 011 said roller and arounda corresponding wheel 7c on the drive-shaft, Fig. 3. This roller 7.;feeds the gum to a roller K mounted in a traveling carriage K slidingupon rods K and adapted to carry said roller K beneath and in contactwith the gummers when in their highest position. To the carriage orcarriages K one being preferably located on each side, are connectedlinks is, which in turn are connected to the crank-arms 70 on therock-shaft K Fig. 3, operated by means of the arm 70', link it", lever70 depressed by a spring k and carrying antifriction-roller k adapted toco-operate with the cam K on the gear-wheel K meshing with acorresponding gear K on the drive-shaft, said gear K beingjournaled upona stud-axle on the frame, as will be readily understood from aninspection of Fig. 1.

The elevator operating and suction mechanism is as follows: The shaft F,before referred to, carries a cam L of the usual form in this class ofmachines, and in addition itcarries a ratchet-wheel L and a hand-wheel LJ ournaled on said shaft is a bell-crank lever L one arm of whichcarries an operatingpawl Z, which co-operates with the ratchetwheel, andthe other arm of which is connected by a link Z with a rock-shaft L,deriving its motion from the main shaft through a rod 1*, forked at thelower end to embrace said shaft and be elevated by a cam-pin Z thereon,but capable of an independent up:

ward movement, the downward movement being secured by means of a springZ all as shown clearly in Fig. 2. On the rock-shaft L is a series of(preferably two) fingers M,

adapted to rest upon the pile of envelopes carried by the elevator, andthereby directly control the speed. at which the cam shall be rotatedand the blanks brought up into position, for it is obvious that whensaid fingers are elevated the rock-shaft is moved but slightly, if atall, the throw of the operatingpawl being thereby diminished and thefeed reduced or entirely arrested if the throw'of the pawl is notsufficient to carry it beyond a single tooth.

Retrograde movement of the cam-shaft is prevented under ordinarycircumstances by a pawl m on the frame; but in order to permit theoperator to move the cam and shaft in either direction when desired athrow-out, consisting of the handle-lever M, journaled on the cam-shaftand having projections m lying behind each of the pawls, is provided.Thus by moving said handle-lever to the left the pawls are both thrownout of engagement, and the operator by means of the hand-wheel L caneasily shift the elevator to the desired position.

The suction-tube f is carried by an arm L on the rock-shaft L and isconnected by a flexible tube m with the upper end of the pivotedcylinder m", in which works a piston m connected with the eccentric-boxm surrounding the eccentric m on the main operating-shaft. With thisconstruction when the pickers descend the suction-tube also descends,and both rise simultaneously, carrying the uppermost envelope with themin the well-understood manner. As before explained, the blanks areplaced on the elevator with the face uppermost and are gummed on saidface at the points indicated in Fig. 9, and after being so gummed theyare carried by the conveyers toward the rear of the machine and intoengagement with the links of a drying and reversing chain, as shownclearly in Fig. 1.

The chain is composed of a series of links journaled together, eachlink, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, consisting of a series of arms or ribsN, adapted to support the envelopeblank by the ungummed portion, thewhole chain being run on pulleys O O and moved with proper relation tothe conveyers by mechanism to be presently described. When in horizontalposition, the ribs onadjacent links touch each other or are brought veryclose together. Hence the envelope-blanks lying between the links aregrasped and held firmly in position, and in order that they may beproperly entered the lower pulley O is so positioned relative to thetable and conveyer that the envelopes are inserted between the linksbefore the same are closed after passing around the pulley.

The pulley O is mounted on ashaft 0 which at one end carries aratchet-wheel 0 with which a pawl 0 on one end of a bell-crank lever o,is adapted to co-operate. To the opposite end of this bell-crank lever0' is connected a link 0 the lower end of which is connected with acrank-arm 0 clamped on the rock-shaft I. Hence when said shaft is movedto operate the conveyer it also operates to give the chain its movement.The blanks in passing up over with the chain are brought down with therear side up and are adapted to be caught upon a table or support P,(shown in Fig. 10,) having longitudinal guideways 10 therein, in whichwork conveyers 19', forming part of an ordinary envelope-machine, thegummers and pickers of which, together with the conveyers, are shown inFig. 1; but as said machine works in the ordinary manner and is ofordinary construction further description or explanation of it isunnecessary.

As the envelope-blank is operated face uppermost it is found convenientand economical to print the same before it is folded. Hence in thepresent machine I locate a printer R in the space between the gum-boxand drying-chain, which printer may be 0perated by hand or otherwise, ifdesired. Instead of carrying the blanks singly to the ordinary envelopegumming and folding machines, a pile of gummed blanks may be allowed toaccummulate in a receiving-box such as is ordinarily employed forreceiving envelopes from a conveying-chain and this pile of blanks maythen be placed on the elevator of any suitable envelope gum ming andfolding machine, the sides of the blanks previously gummed and driedbeing turned down.

Envelopes formed in accordance with this invention possess obviouscommerical advantages,,and by employing the present machine the initialcost is but slightly increased, if at all. The gum being applied whilethe blank is open or fiat will be evenly distributed, and by giving eachportion the configuration indicated, a "continuous line of gum isprovided, when the envelope is folded, which exactly registers with thesealing-flap, no edges of gum being left exposed, and at the same timethe flap is secured to the very edge, making a seal not easily broken orloosened by unscrupulous persons.

The style of envelope is immaterial, for it is obvious that the shape ofthe sections of gum applied to the various flaps of the blank may bealtered to give the proper registration when the envelope is folded,thus in large envelopes, where the central bottom flap is very large andwide, it receives a very large portion of the gum instead of the smallportion in Fig. 9.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1 In amachine such as herein described,

the combination, with the gummers, elevator,

and main operating-shaft, of the drying and reversing chain and theconveyer-hook reciprocating between the gummers and chain, whereby theenvelopes are gummed and conveyed directly to said chain, substantiallyas described.

2. In an envelope -machine, the combination, with the main shaft,rock-shaft moved thereby, elevator, and shaft for moving said elevator,of the fingers on the rock-shaft, adapted to rest on the pile of blankson the elevator, the ratchet-wheel on the elevatormoving shaft, thebell-crank lever having the pawl co-operating with said ratchet wheel,and a link connecting said bell-crank lever and rock-shaft,substantially as described.

3. In an envelopemachine, the combination, with the main shaft,elevator, shaft for moving said elevator, and rock-shaft moved by themain shaft, of the fingers on said rockshaft, adapted to rest on thepile of envelopes, a suction-tube carried by said shaft, the elevator-shaftoperating mechanism, and the link connection between saidelevator-shaftoperating mechanism and rock-shaft, substantially asdescribed.

4. In an elevator-shaftpperating mechanism for envelope-machines, thecombination, with the elevator, the shaft for moving the same, havingthe hand and ratchet wheels thereon, the'bell-crank lever pivoted onsaid shaft, the pawl on said bell-crank lever cooperating with theratchet-wheel, and the sta tion'ary pawl for preventing retrograde movement of said wheel, of the throw-out pivoted on said shaft, having aprojection behind each of said pawls, and the operating-handle,substantially as described.

5. In a machine such as described,the combination, with the gummers,main shaft, and the drying and reversing chain, of the conveyers fortransferring the blanks from the gummers to the chain, the rock-shaftmoved by the main shaft and having the crank-arms for moving theconveyers, and the ratchet-wheel, pawl, and crankarm on the rock shaftfor moving the chain during the forward movement of the conveyers,substantially as described.

6. In a machine such as described, the C0111- bination, with thegummers, main shaft, and the drying and reversing chain, of theconveyers for transferring the blanks from the gummers to the chain, therock-shaft moved bythe main shaftand having the crank-arms for movingthe conveyers, the ratchet-Wheel on the chain-drum, the bell-crankcarrying the pawl co-operating with the ratchet-wheel,

and the crank-arm on the rock -shaft connected With the bell-cranklever, the teeth on the ratchet-wheel and the pawl being in properrelation to operate during the forward movement of the conveyers.

7. In a machine such as described, the combination, with the gummers,main operatingshaft, the conveyers, the rook-shaft moved by the mainshaft,and the arms on said rock-shaft connected with the conveyers, ofthe drying and reversing chain, the drum around which said chain passes,having the ratchet-Wheel thereon, the bell-crank lever pivoted on thedrum-shaft, the pawl on said bell-crank lever engaging the ratchet-Wheel, the arm on the rock-shaft, and the link connected to thebellcrank lever and loosely connected to the arm, substantially asdescribed.

FRANCIS T. NICHOLSON.

Witnesses:

EDWIN WOLF, CLINTON O. MAYER.

